


Silver and Gold

by Hisa_Ai



Series: 31 Days of Christmas [19]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: 31 Days of fic, Belonging, Christmas, Christmas Prompt, Concern, Court Sorcerer Merlin, Day 19, Feast, Fluff, M/M, Prompt Fic, Silver and Gold, Worry, Yule, bit of angst, magic already revealed, mush, reassurance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-19
Updated: 2013-12-19
Packaged: 2018-01-05 06:25:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1090685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hisa_Ai/pseuds/Hisa_Ai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With a feast fast approaching, Arthur has some special jewelry made just for Merlin for the occasion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Silver and Gold

* * *

 

 

It was customary for everyone dining at the feast on the first day of Yuletide to look their very best. They wore their best clothes, had their faces painted and shaved, wore their hair almost  _too_  elaborately for a  _feast_ , and those of the court and visiting royalty wore their best jewelry.

Looking down the table, pouring a drink or serving food or just chatting away with one of the knights or whohaveyou, Merlin was often damn near blinded by the candlelight reflecting off the silver and gold everyone at the table was wearing. Some people just looked  _gaudy_  and tacky, they were wearing so much, but others wore just the right amount, with simply a few rings or their crown or perhaps a necklace or a tasteful pair of earrings on the ladies. Sure, it was customary, expected, that they all look their best and wear a lot of their finest jewelry, but there had to be  _some_  limit, Merlin was sure.

Of course, that had been back when Merlin was just Arthur's servant. The view from next to Arthur, as the Court Sorcerer  _enjoying_  the feast and not just serving at it, was bound to be, well,  _different_.

Even though the rest of the court had insisted upon a pay-raise for Merlin once his title was changed, he didn't actually own anything…  _Feast worthy_ , as Arthur would call it. He still wore his same servant clothes, still kept his hair messy, still didn't own any sort of jewelry. Really, the only thing that set him apart from the actual servants these days was the fact that Arthur yelled at anyone who happened to give him an order instead of expecting him to fulfill it.

But with the feast fast approaching, Arthur himself had seen to the tailoring of Merlin's new clothes—"Just wear them to the feast so the visiting kings don't think I've allowed a  _fool_  to help me make my decisions so far." He had insisted, giving Merlin a wild-eyed look when he opened his mouth to protest—and had to remind him, numerous times, that he was not to serve anyone, offer to refill anyone's cup or anything of the such. He was the  _Court Sorcerer_  now and he should start acting like one. It was fine when it was just them and the knights, people who had known him when he was still Arthur's manservant, but when other kings were visiting, he needed to at least  _pretend_  he knew what he was doing. For Arthur and the sake of Camelot.

Merlin rolled his eyes every step of the way, but otherwise didn't resist much. As long as Arthur didn't try to make him don all the gaudy jewelry that the others did to, he didn't much mind all the extra attention the king was showering him with. He almost enjoyed it, even.

The day the feast was to take place, Merlin was in his chambers—he had even gotten his own  _chambers_  in the castle not a minute's walk away from Arthur's when he'd been made Court Sorcerer—looking down at the clothes he was to wear that night. They were... fancy looking, finely made, having come from Gwen herself as a favor to Merlin, though they looked just as uncomfortable as they probably were. Gwen had tried, she had told him, but he wasn't quite used to it, so they would probably seem stiff and restricting to him no matter what they were made of.

And he was meant to wear them all night. For several nights in a row.

Just.  _Great_.

His door swung open then, and he knew it was Arthur even before he turned around, as everyone else knocked these days. "You need something?" he asked, lips pursed as he shook his head, trying to remember the last time he might have been as uncomfortable in clothing as he was sure he was going to be that night.

"As a matter of fact," and Merlin could  _hear_  the smirk in Arthur's voice as he closed the door, walked across the room and stood with his hands behind his back. "I do." Merlin turned around, arms crossed pensively as he raised an eyebrow, prompting Arthur to continue.

"I have something for you," Arthur continued, grinning widely.

He was only still in his nightclothes—his red pants and thin white shirt that swooped low on his chest—though it was nearing midday. He had never quite gotten around to hiring a new servant after Merlin was promoted, so he often spent a good bit of his day just a tad lost in things when Merlin didn't take it upon himself to stop by and do the littlest of things for him anyway, though it really wasn't his responsibility anymore.

He would never tell Arthur, but he got a bit of a thrill, a sense of nostalgia and longing, when he went through Arthur's wardrobe and laid out his clothes for the day, when he helped him into his armor before training, when he went over his schedule for the day, when he drew his bath for him…

"Is that right?" Merlin asked, pulling a curious face.

"Yes. Do you want to guess what it is?"

"Well it can't be a day off, I can just take those whenever I feel like it now," Merlin shrugged, grinning a second later. The great Arthur Pendragon, king of Camelot, was standing in his room in his nightclothes, his hands clasped behind his back as he played a guessing game with someone who used to serve him. He couldn't quite help but find the situation  _humorous_ , if anything.

"Please, as though I'd let you have one of those anyway," Arthur rolled his eyes.

"I  _am_  the Court Sorcerer, you know. If I want a day off, I think I'm entitled to it,"

"But  _I_  am the King, so I think I'm entitled to tell you no."

"But  _I_  have magic, I could just curse you or something until you let me have my way," Merlin shrugged with the teasing threat. Of course, he probably wouldn't take it that far just to get a day off.  _Probably_.

"You do that and I'll have you in the stocks for a  _month_."

"Could just use my magic to get out of it."

"I'm pretty sure that's cheating."

"I'm pretty sure you're right." Merlin shrugged again, Arthur's smile and slight eye-roll enough to make him grin wider.

"Are you going to guess or not?" Arthur demanded, his tone still light and teasing.

"Uhm, I don't know… A pardon from attending this feast tonight?" he tried, gesturing to the clothes laid out on his bed.

"Mm, close, but no." Arthur's smile widened and he finally brought his hands from behind his back, revealing a white box with the insignia of the royal jeweler on it. Curious, Merlin reached out to take the lid off—why was Arthur bringing him such a box, after all?—but Arthur yanked it back out of his grasp a second later, shook his head at him.

"Arthur, what—"

" _Mer_ lin," Arthur interrupted, holding the box close to him. "I know this has been an adjustment for you—going from  _serving_  me to  _being_  served—and I know you're still struggling with everything. I know you might not think you belong at that table tonight, but," he shrugged, his gaze as soft as his tone was now. "You do, all right? You do," Arthur assured him.

Merlin swallowed, watched Arthur fiddle with the box for a moment.

He didn't know how Arthur knew that, how he was able to read his fears like that—he thought he was  _so_  careful concealing that sort of thing, but ever since Arthur had found out about his magic, he also… Seemed to know everything else. Like he could see everything there ever was and ever would be to Merlin. It would have been unnerving if it had been anyone but Arthur.

"So, I know you're going to  _hate_  this, but you have to wear it. It's customary—no exceptions." Arthur finally took the lid off, revealing a row of rings and a couple of necklaces, all silver or gold in color, exceptionally made by the best Camelot had to offer and beautiful even in the shadows cast by Arthur and Merlin as he came closer, leaned over the box to examine it.

"You're not serious," Merlin shook his head, making a face at Arthur.

"Sorry, Merlin, no exceptions." He repeated, thrusting the box at him. "It's all as good as what I'm going to be wearing. And look here," he picked up the silver necklace, a thick chain with a circle hanging off it, a deep blue crescent moon protruding from the metal. He turned it over, let his fingers trail over the letters engraved on it. "I cheated a bit, had the moon and your name put on it. Thought you'd like that more than what the jeweler suggested." He said, taking his bottom lip in in an uncharacteristic reveal of nerves.

Merlin's hand came up to stroke over the letters of his name.  _Merlin._  He smiled, nodding as he turned it back over in Arthur's hand and stared quizzically at the moon. His name he understood, but the moon?

"It's, uhm," Arthur rubbed the back of his neck. "The night I found out about your magic… The moon was waning, so…" he shrugged as Merlin laughed at the sentimentality. And he called  _Merlin_  a girl?

"What's on the gold one, then?" he asked, reaching for it. It was just the same as the silver one, only the front of the circle was bare and the back of it had  _Emrys_  engraved on it.

He swallowed, nodding once again.

He hadn't been sure what to expect of it, really. Just as Merlin was still warming up to the idea of not being a servant anymore, Arthur was still warming up to the idea of Merlin being the most powerful sorcerer to ever walk the earth. He didn't really… Well, he didn't expect Arthur to have a way to express anything about that part of him just yet.

"It's blank." He said, biting his lip.

"Yeah, but…That's on purpose, you know," Arthur laughed. Merlin's eyes came up to find Arthur's at the sound, so carefree and almost...  _wonderful_. "The  _Emrys_ you isn't… It's  _you_ , but it's a different part of you. I've seen you and your magic at work, Merlin, I've seen you do spells and save people, kill people, do incredible things, but when you do it, when you're using your magic, you're accessing a part of you that's _so different_  from the you you usually are. It's… more powerful, but weaker and amazing and a thousand other things and just… there's really no way to capture that other than with the color of your eyes when you do it." he told him, giving him a soft, reassuring smile with his words.

Merlin nodded slowly. "So… you like one part of me better than the other?" he asked, unsure.

"No. No, no, no. No, don't be ridiculous. I like all of you—well, as much as I can like a dollophead like you, anyway," he teased. "I just mean… God, Merlin, you  _know_  I'm not good with  _words_  like this," he reached a hand up to run his hand through his already messy hair.

Merlin laughed at him, placated with his words, the messy rush of his sentence trying to fix what he thought he'd messed up.

"All right, I get it, I was just teasing." He took the silver one from Arthur's hand as he let out a breath. "It's… this is nice, Arthur, thank you." He slipped it over his head, let it fall just beneath his scarf as he turned his attention back to the rings. "But do I  _really_  have to wear these? If people find out you've been giving me  _rings_ and jewelry, they might get the wrong idea, you know…"

"Nice try, but you still have to wear them. Half the castle already knows, anyway," he shrugged, watched as Merlin pursed his lips and examined the rings, trying to settle on which ones didn't look as hideous as the others did.

"Fine, I'll wear some of these, but  _you_  have to do something in return," Merlin's eyes came up to meet Arthur's, a devilish glint to them.

"And what's that?" Arthur sighed.

" _You_  have to wear the  _Emrys_ necklace." He grinned, dangling the golden piece of jewelry in front of Arthur's face.

"You're not  _serious."_

"Well, you  _said_  half the castle already knows, so let's just make sure the other half does as well. Unless you'd rather wear the  _Merlin_  one and be less subtle about it?" he asked, voice and eyes much too innocent to be anything but a farce.

"I  _really_  hate you sometimes." Arthur hissed, snatching the  _Emrys_ necklace from his hand and slipping it over his neck, thrusting the white box further into Merlin's grasp.

"Ah, I love you, too,  _sire_." He replied teasingly, shaking his head in silent laughter as he put the lid back on the box and threw it down with his clothes for the evening.

Arthur rolled his eyes, leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips before turning around and stalking out of the room.

"I expect you to be ready for the feast on time, or so help me I will  _make you_  get a manservant of your own for this sort of thing. And  _you_  will not have the luxury of falling in love with him, so it will just be  _awful_." He promised just before the door swung shut behind him, leaving Merlin to chuckle and look over his attire for the evening once more.

And Merlin was  _right_ , the view from the table sitting next to Arthur  _was_  quite different indeed. Everyone else still looked gaudy in their over-excessive gold and silver layers of jewelry, but Arthur, at least, with simply his crown, the  _Emrys_  necklace, and a few silver rings, looked quite wonderful and in place among everyone else.

And for the first time since his promotion, Merlin truly felt like he belonged at the table, at Arthur's side, felt like he  _deserved_  it when Arthur slipped his hand into Merlin's under the table as the meal was ending—even if the clothing  _was_  just as uncomfortable as always.

 

* * *

 


End file.
